Right Now?
by pearlydewdrop
Summary: In mere seconds, Sybil had torn down the staircase of the loft apartment, arriving in the kitchen. She appeared more than a little agitated to her slightly alarmed but still deliciously bedraggled boyfriend, who was wearing nothing but a faded Trinity College t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts ..."Oh Tom, I've got news! Bad news!".(Hopefully a cute Modern AU)


**Right Now?!**

_..._

_Dublin_

_Modern Day_

_8.30am_

_..._

"Of course, Mama", Sybil Crawley said sweetly, somehow managing to keep her tone of voice characteristically light-hearted despite the panic she felt bubbling up inside. "Brunch sounds truly lovely."

As was expected for a newly qualified medical doctor, her work schedule had quickly become absolutely chaotic in recent months. It had been the reason that Sybil hadn't seen either of her parents since Matthew and Mary's wedding.

That was over five months ago...and a lot had changed in her life since then.

And now here they were...Robert and Cora Crawley just a few miles away from her flat...on a Saturday morning, turning up without any forewarning, completely unexpected..._'Oh Bugger!'_

"It's ever so wonderful of you and Papa to come all the way to Dublin. What a lovely surprise!", Sybil continued, hoping that she still seemed believably genuine and unruffled to her mother on the other end of the phone.

Frustratedly, she tossed a pale blue button up dress over her head and straightened the duvet covers that had become impossibly tossed during the night.

All the while, the youngest Crawley listened to her mother gush about how nice the flight over from Heathrow had been and how wonderful their room at The Shelbourne had turned out to be despite the last minute nature of the trip.

"I'm very happy to hear that, Mama", Sybil managed to get out, as she rushed around the room, feeling more and more like a crazy person, trying to make things look at least halfway presentable.

Still very proud of herself for remaining so outwardly calm, Sybil barely repressed an outburst of very unladylike curse words (something that her mother would have undoubtedly scolded her for) at the next suggestion that was thrown her way.

"Why don't we just pop by and collect you on our way?"

Distracted by the prospect of her parents arriving into her home as everything was, Sybil bit back a grunt of frustration when she snubbed her toe on the side of the dressing table.

"Oh Mama, there really is no need to pick me up...It's out of your way and everything."

But they insisted on taking the detour to collect her, just as she knew they would...and when it came to her parents, Sybil knew that there wasn't much point in quarrelling once everything had, in their eyes, been settled.

'Oh fuck it!', she whispered vehemently to herself (it was finally okay to do so now with the call from her parents safely ended) and tossed her phone into her handbag, aggressively zipping it closed as she grabbed the shoes that she had worn out the night before.

In mere seconds, Sybil had torn down the staircase of the loft apartment, arriving in the kitchen area. Upon her very frantic arrival, she appeared more than a little agitated to her slightly alarmed but still deliciously bedraggled boyfriend, who was dressed only in a half faded Trinity College t-shirt and a pair of boxer shorts.

Goodness, this really hadn't been how Sybil had anticipated her Saturday morning to go...making Tom put on more clothes rather than ridding him completely of the few that he already had on.

She sighed distractedly, frustratedly, and began quickly clearing the coffee table of empty Chinese takeout cartoons from the night before.

"Oh Tom, I've got news! Bad news!"

Tom Branson glanced up from his laptop in concern, the article that he had been working tirelessly on over the past few days forgotten in light of Sybil's apparent distress.

Good Lord, he hadn't seen her in this much of a spin since the day of her final medical exams six months earlier!

"You're dying?", Tom deadpanned jokingly, an expectant eyebrow raised at the possibility of hearing anything so awful that it had his girlfriend, who was always more than happy to sleep in on Saturday mornings, both out of bed and mindlessly flustered so early.

Sybil rolled her eyes, feeling very unappreciative at his attempts at humour right now. "No it's not quite that bad."

"Am I dying then?"

Sighing in frustration, Sybil wasn't quite sure whether she wanted to kiss him senselessly or whack him repeatedly over the head...possibly both, even though they hadn't much time for either at the moment.

"My parents thought they would come to Dublin and surprise me for the weekend. They're visiting."

"Oh feck! Parents?", Tom said, immediately getting up and hurrying across the room until they were standing across from one another, only then realising how very very underdressed he was to be meeting Sybil's parents for the first time...and a fine first impression he'd make standing here in his underwear. "Posh English parents?", he added, as if to clarify.

He had known for quite a while that his girlfriend had come from an aristocratic background, but it had never made any bit of difference in the slightest to him. Titles aside, Sybil Crawley was always unapologetically herself and despite the incessant ribbing that he had initially gotten from his family (and the mere fact that his republican ancestors would probably turn in their graves at the idea), his girlfriend of six months could be the bloody Queen of England and he'd still be absolutely, totally and completely mad about her in every way.

"When are they coming?", Tom asked, hoping to God that she wouldn't confirm that '_Yes_', Lord and Lady Grantham were very much, in the flesh, outside their door.

"Now!", Sybil snapped as if that hadn't been quite obvious given the state that she was in.

Tom gaped at her, still a little frozen...not to mention mortified at the idea of meeting The Crawleys right now...Sybil's parents who, despite her current reaction to their unexpected visit, he knew that she loved very very much. "As in right now?".

"As in; they left The Shelbourne ten minutes ago, so you really ought to put on some trousers!"

XXXXXXXXXXXX

After five completely hectic minutes, Sybil and Tom, looking fifty percent more clothed and marginally less like they had just been dragged out of bed, heard the knock on the door.

Smiling nervously, Sybil reached for Tom's hand, lacing her fingers through his.

He squeezed back encouragingly.

"I love you, Tom...", Sybil whispered quietly in the last seconds before reaching for the door handle. She was finally ready for her two very separate and very precious worlds to collide. "I love you so much. So very very very much."

Tom grinned softly, comfortingly brushing his thumb over her knuckles. He was ready too, ready to fully become part of her world as she already was of his.

"And I love you my darlin',_ mo anamchara_, with all my heart."

* * *

**A/N: Hiya guys! Let me know what you thought of this! Incase you're wondering its based off of a scene from the Domhnaill Gleeson and Rachel MacAdams movie 'About Time'. **

**Thanks to everyone who has left reviews on my other Sybil and Tom stories so far. I really really really appreciate and a special thank you to all of my lovely guest reviewers who I sadly can't thank individually. **

**Also, I've uploaded a new chapter to my Sybil/Tom and Mary/Matthew Victorian AU 'I'll Be Out There Somewhere' during the week in case anyone wanted to check it out. I would love to hear what you think!**

**Anyways, hope you are all having a great week!**

**Pearlydewdrop xx**

**Also...**

**Cúpla Fócail as Gaeilge:**

**Mo anamchara (my soulmate/my kindred spirit) **


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